FOR THIS ALONE, he should be re-elected. Brother Kellman, thanks! But I wonder why he said it up north; probably following custom.
Article after article, like John the Baptist I have been preaching that sermon; Trinidad has too much callaloo in the Barbados pot. Remember Like Two Snakes Rolled Up, or Et Tu, Yuh Brute. I gave you Trini To The Bone and Bank Comparisons; people nearly kill me when I wrote Fair Weather Friends or Doth Not Brutus Bootless Kneel and Staff Layoff Imminent, to name only a few.
Probably the fellow was aiming for my head when he delivered that blow to my chain. Like Jamaica, we should ban this buying of gold. Do we know the time lag between buying and melting?
Now just imagine that the genesis of CLICO was the lack of supervision by the authorities in Trinidad for which we are paying or not paying dearly. The politicians need to lead the way, but can they?
An article recently caught my attention and it bears quoting: “We have politicians who have never even led a sheep to a pasture, but once they ascend the steps of Parliament, we bestow upon them the title of leader of a ministry or the entire country when their only experience in leadership is what is imagined through their own aspirations.” (Shantal Munro Knight – Firing Line, Daily Nation of September 16).
I wonder who she is referring to or to whom she is referring as sheep.
My problem is not the ability to lead but the reluctance to share any wealth that any politician happens to come across. When a politician enters Parliament for the first time his pocket is usually dry from the expenses of the hustling.
These expenses can be considerable – bottle gas here, nappies there, the odd $5, rent shortage make-up and so forth. It therefore is quite reasonable and appropriate for him to replenish his pocket. This has nothing to do with what is happening in the country.
He may be reasonable and stop the replenishment when he has accumulated as much as US$70 million, although the target is sometimes more. What he does not want is for enquiries from authorities abroad to look suspiciously at his new wealth – sorry, pelf – as travelling abroad may become tricky.
Being a politician is dicey. Suppose he is not re-elected and suppose that he is not a popular attorney. He may have to walk the streets in rags, and that would not be nice or fair for a former politician. Hence the imperative to make hay while the sun shines.
But politicians can be good managers, ones who can distinguish between fairness and balance. They are fair to themselves and the balance of us can suck salt. Right now the dilemma that the country faces is whether to re-elect a party that has just been put out to pasture, or continue to suck salt.
The one thing in the former party’s favour is that it has “experience in leadership beyond aspirations”. The one thing with which I disagree is the sale of the airport or the seaport. What if Trinidadians buy the airport? Imagine a Trinidad immigration officer at the airport telling me: “Bai, yuh need a visa to come through this airport. Get one from Charlotte Street, Port of Spain.”
I suggested in an article that Trinidadians deserve a seat in our Parliament. We acknowledged that their frequent visits to Barbados for safety, solace or other reasons boost our tourism. Almond put a lie to that notion.
Not all of the values that prevail in Trinidad are healthy for us although we must admire the decisiveness in firing some ministers who are said to err. Nevertheless, we have been hasty in copying some of the negatives. Some of these negatives are out in the open and some are hidden. Some we can see as big as houses and some are as ephemeral as a whiff of ganja.
A friend gave me some economic advice: “Shop at the discount stores, but read the expiry labels.”
• Harry Russell is a banker. Email [email protected]
